1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coaxial cable connectors and more particularly, to such a coaxial cable for connecting a coaxial cable to a mating device, which has an annular contact spring plate set in an inside retaining hole of the locknut thereof with multiple spacer strips of the annular contact spring plate clamped on a shoulder of the inner tube thereof to ensure positive establishment of the desired ground loop, enhancing signal transmission stability and reliability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Coaxial cable connectors are commonly designed for assembly with one of a series of coaxial cables having one same specification and different wire outer diameters. Similar designs are seen in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/274,308 “Coaxial cable connector” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/412,972, “Coaxial cable connector using a multi-contact spring washer”. These two prior art designs commonly discloses the design of an annular groove on the periphery of a neck of a body shell or the inside of a locknut for accommodating an O-ring, and the design of an annular contact spring plate that is mounted on the neck of the body shell and forced into contact with the rear end face of the locknut at multiple contact points to keep an abutment surface of the locknut in close contact with an abutment surface of an inner tube. Thus, a ground loop will be created upon threading of the locknut onto an F-connector of a mating device, ensuring reliable signal transmission.
According to the aforesaid two prior art designs, the annular contact spring plate is mounted on the neck of the body shell and kept in contact with the rear end face of the locknut to force the abutment surface of the locknut against the abutment surface of the inner tube. When threading the locknut onto the F-connector of the mating device, much resisting force will be produced, i.e., the installer shall employ much effort to finish the installation.
FIG. 1 illustrates another prior art design of coaxial cable connector 91 for connecting a coaxial cable 90 to a mating device 92 (see FIG. 2). The coaxial cable connector 91 comprises a locknut 93 having an inner thread 94 for threading onto an outer thread 96 of an F-connector 95 of the mating device 92.
During installation, the central conductor 97 of the coaxial cable 90 is inserted into a conducting clamp 98 to achieve signal conduction. Further, the end flange 902 of the inner tube 99 of the coaxial cable connector 91 can be kept in positive contact with the end face 903 of the F-connector 95 of the mating device 92 to ensure conduction between the braided outer conductor 901 of the coaxial cable 90 and the metal casing of the F-connector 95 for grounding only after the inner thread 94 of the locknut 93 has been tightly threaded onto the outer thread 96 of the F-connector 95.
According to the aforesaid prior art design, it is difficult to keep the end flange 902 of the inner tube 99 of the coaxial cable connector 91 in positive contact with the end face 903 of the F-connector 95 of the mating device 92. Further, the connection between the inner thread 94 of the locknut 93 and the outer thread 96 of the F-connector 95 of the mating device 92 may be loosened after a long use. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a coaxial cable connector that can positively create the desired ground loop, ensuring reliable signal transmission.